Elehayym Van Houten
Lieutenant Elehayym Van Houten (Elhaym Van Houten in the English localization), nicknamed Elly, is the deuteragonist and a playable character of Xenogears. In the beginning of Xenogears, Elly is the young skilled officer of the Solaris Military known as Gebler, and is part of Gebler's Aveh branch. She is the lieutenant of Ignas Army's Third Assault Division and leads a squad. After much persuasion by Fei Fong Wong, Elly leaves the military, coming to terms with the truth of Solaris's actions and goals. As a Solarian, Elly is a 1st Class Gazel citizen and lives a very privileged life. Her mother is Medena Van Houten, and her father is Erich Van Houten, who works in the Imperial Guard. Appearance Elly has a long orange hair and indigo eyes. Her main outfit is a white and black Gebler military uniform with a green gem at the center, brown stockings and white short boots with black linings. When she was captured by Karellen and Myyah near the end of the game, Elly wears an outfit similar to Myyah's: a white military dress with a light blue trim, black leggings and white boots. When she becomes the last instance of Myyah, her orange hair changes to purple. Personality In the beginning of Xenogears, Elly is a loyal Gebler lieutenant. As a 1st class citizen, her knowledge of Solaris is extensive, and she shares a very elaborate residence there with her parents. In Jugend, Elly was taught that Lambs are inferior, who needed to be 'shepherded' for their own good. CITAN "Exactly. Yet you seem to feel responsibility toward Fei and the villagers. Why is that?" ELLY "I don't know myself... At Jugend I was taught that surface dwellers were stupid and base... ... And that is why we have to control them... But..." Despite this, she feels guilt over the loss of lives in the Lahan Village incident. She also feels no insult in having been rescued by Fei, a Lamb, which she credits to her father's more open-minded approach to surface dwellers, as well as her seeing similarities in Fei's guilt and her own.CITAN "Most of your people would feel ashamed at receiving such an act. Yet, you are grateful to Fei...?" ELLY "It's probably because of my father. He had an open mind to surface dwellers. My nanny was... a surface dweller. No one knew about her though... Besides... I am the same as Fei..." She does have a heart, as she is quick to spare Fei's life upon their first meeting, and even apologizes to him for her blunt words. This was despite her orders to kill any Lambs she comes across, in order to preserve the secrecy of her initial mission. Despite this, and the fact that Fei later saves her, Elly comments that the next time they meet, they will be enemies. When using the drug known as Drive, her personality turns violent and aggressive, going from wanting to spare Fei's life to wanting him to die, although she claims she will kill him painlessly in return for treating her kindly. While initially hostile towards Fei, Elly slowly begins to trust him, and later, ends up switching sides to fight with the party against Solaris. During her journey with Fei's group, Elly begins to question her role and purpose in life, her own hypocrisy in dealing with Lambs and the world, and her own insecurities. Added to this is the growing sense of her identity as the Antitype and her growing attachment to Fei. Elly, like many incarnations of the Antitype before her, eventually falls in love with Fei, and is driven to protect him, even at the possible cost of her own life. Biography Creation and past lives In T.C. 4767, Abel was on a spaceship called the Eldridge searching for his missing mother. The Wave Existence, using Kadomony, sensed Abel's desire for his mother and created a woman. Soon after, the Eldridge crashed, with Abel the only survivor. After the Eldridge crashed into the planet due to Deus's awakening, a program termed System Hawwa activated. Using True Elehayym, System Hawwa transformed her into the original Myyah. This first version of Myyah went on to create a biological assembler plant, creating Cain and the Gazel Ministry. In order to manage these new humans, she created two duplicates of herself: Myyah, the Complement, and Elehayym, the Antitype. Elehayym was programmed to awaken as the last incarnation of Myyah and merge with Deus on the Day of Resurrection.Perfect Works, pg 11. The first Elehayym inherited many of the characteristics Abel wished for in a mother, as well as the Original Myyah's special nature as the mother and protector of humanity. The first Myyah, meanwhile, was meant as a manager, bearing the powers of a Deus System weapon and tasked to strengthen and gather all the genetic parts the Deus System Mode needed to repair and reactivate its new body.Perfect Works, pg. 170 Together with Elehayym, or Elly as he had come to call her, Abel lived during the first years of human life on the Xenogears planet. When Cain, Myyah and the Gazel Ministry began laying down the foundations of what would be all their various control mechanisms in the developing human culture, Abel and Elly, now grown adults, stepped forward and challenged them. Cain responded by murdering both him and Elly to silence them. Both Abel and Elly were continuously reincarnated through the Zohar Modifier by the will and power of the Wave Existence. At first, their relationship was of a mother and her child, but due to later reincarnations of Abel and Elly being reincarnated around the same time, they would usually instead become lovers. However, in every instance, due to Elly's sacrificial nature, she would die for Abel's sake, resulting in a tendency for Abel to in turn continually torture himself emotionally.Perfect Works, pg 165. The latest and last incarnations are Fei Fong Wong and Elehayym Van Houten. Elehayym Van Houten Elly was born to Medena and Erich Van Houten in 9981 in Solaris. Despite Elly being a Solarian and the daughter of one of the Empire's most decorated officers, her red hair and blue-violet eyes physically separates her from other first class citizens, who were mostly blond-haired and blue-eyed. Elly feels ashamed for not possessing blonde hair, believing she is half-Solarian, half-Lamb. For a time, Elly thought her mother Medena was not the woman her father married, and that her childhood nanny, a Lamb, was actually her real mother. This fact of her life was a mark of ridicule by some people of Solaris, including Elly's former comrade in the Elements, Dominia Yizkor. It's only toward the midpoint of the game that Elly learns that her appearance is due to her being the Antitype, and finally accepts that Medena is her real biological mother. In 9994, Elly joined the Jugend Military Academy. About a year prior to the game (9998), Elly was given a dose of Drive against her will as part of both an experiment and standard Jugend procedure to test all graduates. When the drugs took affect, her powers as the Antitype temporarily awakened and she lashed out, killing two of her fellow students and injuring three more. She came to, surrounded by blood, causing her significant guilt going forward. This event prevented her from becoming an Element, a position she otherwise qualified for due to her high Ether capabilities. She would still manage to attain a position as a lieutenant within Gebler. Xenogears Elly was leading an operation to steal a top-secret experiment Gear from the rival country Kislev, but was forced to flee from Kislev forces and, as a result, crash-landed in Lahan Village. Elly's first encounter with Fei in the Blackmoon Forest is gruff, at first. Elly approaches Fei at gunpoint and orders him to surrender in Solarian. However, when she realizes Fei can't comprehend her, she switches to his language: the language of the Lambs. After Elly calls him a coward responsible for the Lahan villager's deaths, Fei struggles to find a reason to live and considers suicide, but ultimately refrains. When Fei blames Kislev for the massacre in Lahan, Elly is annoyed and calls him out, essentially telling him to grow up, act like an adult, and take some responsibility for the blame and that he was, to some extent, responsible for the deaths since he jumped into the Gear and started fighting in it in the middle of the village, despite not knowing how to fully operate it. After being rescued by Fei and Citan Uzuki from a monster, the three camp for the night. Citan, after displaying a surprising knowledge of Solarian, questions Elly's involvement in the Lahan incident. Elly admits that she was the one avoiding blame as the Lahan incident was also her fault. Her landing that Gear near the town lured Kislev there, kickstarting the fight. At Citan's request, Elly leaves Fei to return to her country's headquarters and military. Fei eventually reunites with Elly during the assault on Nortune, Kislev. Fei drags Elly onto the rooftops of Kislev, forced her to come to grips with the costs of Solaris's actions. She later joins Rico and Fei in their Gears in the effort to deflect a bomb from hitting the nuclear reactor. When Fei and Rico's Gears overheat from the effort, Elly uses her Gear to continue redirecting the bomb away from the city, nearly sacrificing herself if not for the efforts of a mysterious sinister-looking winged Gear. In order to escape the Kislev Empire, Fei's group decides to steal the airplane "Goliath" in the Goliath Factory. They do so, however, Fei and Elly are separated from the rest of the party when the Goliath sinks into the sea after being accidentally shot down by Bart Fatima's ship. Elly and Fei are rescued by the Thames, a movable floating city ship. After learning Elly's whereabouts, Gebler attempts to kidnap Elly. Myyah Hawwa, a Gebler officer, unsuccessfully brainwashes her. Myyah also calls Elly's eyes "beautiful". Elly eventually returns to the party. Much later, in her home country Solaris, Elly shows Fei around Etrenank and Solaris and she acts as a language translator for him. She introduces Fei to her parents at her 1st Class Gazel home which is a luxurious mansion, a stark contrast to the small pods the 3rd Class worker bee slaves have. When Erich catches Elly and Fei trying to find information about their friends in his room, he and Elly argue, causing Fei to leave their home in order to spare Elly from being arrested as a traitor. While Fei is gone, Elly is visited in her room by Medena, who feels that Elly should live her life the way she wishes, and that if her loved ones are in danger, she can't abandon them. As Elly leaves her room, she is met by Erich, who declares his belief that being human means being able to pick your path in life, an aspect of free will. When Erich hears the arrival of soldiers, he is surprised when, instead of the military police, the Imperial Guard has arrived. Stating that the intruder had 'fled', Erich is alarmed to learn that Karellen, one of Solaris' rulers, had ordered Elly be taken into custody. Putting his rank as a 1st class citizen and possibly his life on the line, Erich holds back the soldiers, allowing Elly to escape. Rejoining Fei and Citan as they delve into the military sectors of Solaris, they learn the horrifying truth of the Soylent System, as well as discover various party members' genetic data on display. As they go in deeper, they are seemingly betrayed by Citan. Elly is taken into Karellen's private lab, where she confronts a deranged Kahran Ramsus demanding to know where Fei is. When Fei and the party comes in to help her escape, it is revealed that Citan's betrayal was his means of rescuing the rest of the party. Regrouping with Elly's parents, Elly and the rest of the party make their way to the hanger. Just as they arrive, Hammer takes Elly hostage. Medena manages to get Elly free, but is fatally shot in the process. Grahf and Executioner then arrive, forcing Erich to confront them in his mech. As his mech is destroyed by Executioner, Erich declares that Elly is his and Medena's child, no matter what. Later, Fei and Elly are chased by Ramsus and are struck down. Mortally wounded, they are rescued by Taura Melchior. After a period of three weeks, Fei and Elly are healed by Taura and his nanotechnology. When her faith in Solaris is shaken, Elly must find her own path in life and pursue her goals without the backing of her family or Solaris. Everyone regroups and Elly and Emeralda go to the Mass Driver Facility to release the Limiters of everyone on the planet. However, due to a virus Karellan releases at the same time, some turn into Wels. Back on the surface, Fei and Elly work together to put an end to the Soylent System. The Wels divide themselves into the 'haves' and 'have nots', and some even resort to cannibalism due to their desire for flesh. At one point, Sophia resonates with Elly and comforts the mutated Wels in a Soylent System facility, begging them not to lose the shreds of human dignity they have left. All the people that had been mutated were taken in by Nisan where they received treatment. Elly stays behind and assists Nisan for her own safety. Karellen seeks to possess Elly, the Mother, who must be sacrificed in order to revive Deus. In Nisan, Elly senses that Fei is in danger, which is confirmed when Karellen sends a message, saying that if she wants to save Fei and his group, she must go to Golgoda. Elly does so and defeats Mugwort and Rattan, but is kidnapped by Karellen. Karellen lets Fei and his allies go, knowing they will come back to rescue her. In Merkava, the party finds Karellen and Myyah waiting for them as well as an unconscious Elly, bound on a cross in front of Deus's massive form. Karellan explains that Elly, as the Mother, must be sacrificed in order to revive Deus. As the party struggles to free Elly, Ramsus arrives, and, goaded by Myyah about how she used him, kills Myyah. As Fei frees Elly, a gunshot is heard. As Fei slumps back against Citan it is revealed that Elly is the who shot Fei. As her hair color, facial expression, and choice of words change, the party realizes that Elly has turned into the next incarnation of Myyah. After revealing the truth about Deus's nature and its coming plans for humanity, the 'Last Myyah' becomes absorbed by Deus. The party is forced to retreat as Merkava raises into the sky, firing a red beam of destruction on the land below. Fei sets out to destroy Deus and free the Wave Existence and Elly. The party defeats Deus, but they realize that the energy released from the Wave Existence's shift will destroy the planet. Elly, inside Deus, tries to move it away from the planet and Fei, in his Xenogears, follows to save her, but both disappear in the rift. Karellen confronts them, telling Fei he only sought to end the pain and suffering that comes with human existence by reverting everything back to when it all began, when all was one, to ascend to the realm of God. Fei rejects Karellen's ideology with his love for Elly, but Karellen challenges Fei, telling him to prove this love that could make him independent of God, and calls forth Urobolus, a gigantic serpent-like being bearing Myyah's face. Xenogears appears and Fei uses it to defeat Urobolus. Karellen releases Elly and reveals to Fei that he had planned to become one with God along with Elly. During her time with Karellen, Elly had seen inside his heart and realized it was full of sadness and despair for all the atrocities he had committed. Despite everything, Elly says that Karellen truly loved people more than anyone else. Because no one will forgive his sins, he declines Fei's offer to return and ascends to a higher plane of existence along with the Wave Existence, telling Fei and Elly that he envies them. Fei and Elly then return to their planet along with Xenogears and reunite with the rest of the party. Gameplay Elly is a competent fighter with her rods, but she has powerful elemental ether, which makes her valuable to the party. In battles, Elly fights using rods or batons which she knocks her opponent in each hit or sometimes she wielded two rods or two batons when she uses some of her deathblows. She can also somersault her opponents with a single blow or a single kick. When using elemental deathblows, Elly is also capable of using elemental magic. In her Aqua Frost final deathblow, Elly is shown as an excellent ballet when using this ability. In Gear battles, her Gear Vierge, and her Omnigear, El-Regrs, also wield a rod. However, during her boss battle against Fei due to being drugged by the "Drive", her Gear is not seen wielding a rod. Some of her fighting abilities are used before making a final blow against Fei using Aerods. Vierge can essentially become overpowered if the player equips her with an Ether Doubler on her human form (use 2x EP to create 2x effect), and Power Magic on her Gear (increases Eth Mach Strength). Her Gear's Aerods then become insanely overpowered. Sometimes, it's enough to one-hit-kill bosses. Elly leaves the party forever after Anima Dungeon Two is completed - it is recommended the player remove any valuable equipment before the Hammer boss battle. Because of this, Elly and her Gear can be viewed as a rather pointless character to use entirely, since she won't be available for the latter parts of the game, and all the effort put into building Elly and her Gear as a party member could be used on Fei/Citan/Bart/Billy/Rico/Emeralda/Maria instead. Deathblows * Screamer: - 4 AP * Cyclone Kick: - 5 AP * Breakthrough: - 5 AP * Double Shock: - 6 AP * Sky Attack: - 6 AP * Bright Spark: - 6 AP * Sting Kick: - 6 AP * Anemo Zap: - Wind Elemental, 7 AP * Terra Charge: - Earth Elemental, 7 AP * Thermo Thump: - Fire Elemental, 7 AP * Aqua Frost: - Water Elemental, 7 AP Etymology The name Elehayym is derived from a reversal of Myyah ele'm, meaning Myyah exists here, signifying Elly's connection to Myyah, and how the Myyah factor exists within her. Perfect Works, pg 171.'' '' Van Houten is a Dutch surname, literally meaning "from Houten" (a reference to the town of Houten in the Netherlands). It can also mean "from the forest". Quotes * "Ranahad! Katenayu tada bintudah akba! Dhan narata! Rana kotay!" (Elly, yelling in Solarian at Fei on their first meeting) * "You talk as if it's not your responsibility! They died because you had to pilot the Gear and start fighting! Not just anyone can pilot those machines, you know! Why won't you take responsibility!? Why are you trying to put the blame on others? You're a coward!" * "No... I didn't do anything...! It wasn't me... can't you understand? I didn't do it... I'm not so strong... I'm not even all that talented..." (Elly remembers her Drive incident) * "Why don't you take some of the responsibility yourself? Why are you putting all the blame on others? That's just running away! That's what makes you a coward!" * "Why? It's obvious. It's divine providence! We are the chosen people, the Abel... Our purpose of existence is to subordinate the earth dwelling 'Lambs'. Those who stand in our way must be eliminated! This is my true nature! There is no other!" (using Drive) * "Hahaha! Writhe! Dance! Die and rot in obscurity here! It looks like it's over for you. I'll put you out of your misery now! Fear not! In return for treating me so kindly, I will kill you painlessly. Farewell, Fei..." (using Drive) * "Sorry I'm so edgy." * "It's OK not to feel ‘whole’. Even if you only feel partly complete, if you repeat that enough, eventually it’ll be 'whole'. A part... is better than zero." (to Fei) * "Don't be too hard on yourself. Everyone wants to be needed at times. All of us want to give something inside ourselves to others to be accepted." * "In that dream, I was called 'Sophia'... Mother Sophia... A symbolic name... Crowned upon the person who would be the people's hope... A name I was destined to have whether I wanted it or not..." * "Dreams... A life of a woman named Sophia... And the lives of countless other women... All but dreams... Now that I am awake, those countless numbers of long, heartrending dreams are almost impossible to remember at all... In those dreams, I loved one man... no matter the day, No matter the era... That did not change... Only his name..." * "That dream changed me... That dream was the catalyst for me to resolve what my purpose was. I think I know now... What I have to do... That long, long memory of a dream... That perhaps was the memory of my soul..." * "Excuse me! I'm only 18 years old. I'm nowhere near the age of being your mother!" (after Citan comments that Elly has matured like a mother) * "All of you, want to be loved... needed by someone, so we look to others... By ourselves, we are lonely, so we try to draw together to live... That's what it means to be human...That's how people live. A single hand cannot clap." * "I only did what I could. Maybe I'm a hypocrite. A well to do 'have'. Maybe it's only pity for the 'have-nots'... But if I can know the joy of giving out a little of the life within me... Then maybe someday it may just be possible that one human can truly give love to another... People can do it... I truly believe they can. That's why..." * "...It's funny, isn't it? We used to be enemies, but now we're together like this... In the beginning... I think I saw myself in you. We seemed to overlap... You being in a similar situation as I was in. When I was with you, I didn't feel alone or apprehensive. That's why I thought I liked you... But it wasn't that. I simply didn't have the courage to look at my true self. I turned to you to run away from it all... I mistook that for love. But, it's different now. I can face my own problems. I am me... and you are you. It has all become clear to me now. I also learned that I really do need you... It's not because I need you as a sanctuary for my problems. I need you because I truly love you." (to Fei) * "Everyone wants someone special waiting for them. Someone who will protect a place they can return to. If you don't have that peace of mind, then you would not be able to get anything done... Men try to fight it out as much as they can and then some... They're cute when they do that, aren't they?" * "I'm not a holy woman of any sort. I'm just a regular woman. I get angry... I cry... I laugh... Although at times I can resent others, I also know how to love others... Loving whole masses of people at times... and loving just one person the rest of the time... I am in supreme bliss when I am embraced by the man that I love. Giving what I have to him, and receiving what he gives to me, we become one flesh... That is the moment when I am most at peace. It is my prerogative as a woman to simply want to save the man that I love!" (to her squad) * "I'm so sorry... so please forgive me! I was wrong... I thought sacrificing myself in order to save others was the right thing to do... But my actions only brought sadness to all the people who I left behind. And that sadness gave birth to even more sadness. As long as 'I' still live within you, my life is not just mine alone." * "If we're together, I can." Trivia *In the introduction of the game, Shigeyoshi Inoue looks at a photo of his apparent family. The girl in it strongly resembles Elly. *Elly is symbolic of Anima, which is why one of her incarnations is named Sophia after the Jungian names for Anima. The names are, in order from low Anima to high Anima: Eve, Helen, Mary, and Sophia. *Elly is the only party member who retains her Japanese battle cries in the English version of Xenogears. *When Elly talks about her and Fei becoming "one flesh", this is likely a Biblical allusion to Genesis 2:24. *Elly has a strong resemblance to Nephilim Verum in Xenosaga. ''Nephilim also has a relationship with Abel in ''Xenosaga. In the Japanese versions of both games, Nephilim and Elly share the same voice actor. *Her English voice actress, Moira Quirk is known for portraying as a referee in Nickelodeon's Guts and for her role as Daniella from ''Haunting Ground''. Gallery Concept and Official Art Elly.png|Art. EllyPose.png|Art. EllyConcept.png|Art. Xeno-elly-front-back-side.jpg|Art. EllyCon1.png|Concept art. EllyCon2.png|Concept art. EllyCon3.png|Concept art. Elly_portrait_sketch.png|Portrait sketch. EllyArt.png|Art of Elly and Myyah in front of the Pendant of Nisan. EllyExp.png|Art (emotions and expressions). MargieElly.png|Margie and Elly. Fei_elly.jpg|Xenogears Comic Anthology. XenogearsEnd.png|Art of Elly and Fei holding hands by Kunihiko Tanaka. The original Elehaymm El.png|True Elehayym. ZoharEye.gif|True Elehayym in Kadomony in the eye of the Zohar. Abel_y_elly_2.jpg|Abel and Elly fleeing from Cain in 0011. Abel_y_elly_3jpg.jpg|Elly is killed by Cain and tells Abel to live. Elly as Kim Kasim's wife Kim1.jpg|Elly and Kim celebrating a new year. Kim2.jpg|Elly and Kim celebrating a new year. AmIFool.png|Elly asks Kim if she's also a stupid fool after he vents. Kim17.jpg|Elly sleeping in Kim's bed. 22-growthspurt30.jpg|Kim commentates to Elly on Emeralda. Elly as Mother Sophia SophiaCon.png|Mother Sophia. Sophia.png|Sophia painted by Lacan. Sophia1.png|Elly (Sophia) being painted by Lacan. Sophia3.png|Elly (Sophia) and Lacan. Sophia6.png|Elly (Sophia) burning to death. Elly as Elehayym Van Houten EllyConfusion.png|Elly Confusion EllyHands.jpg|Elly's blood-stained hands. Coward1.jpg|"I'm not so strong..." Coward2.jpg|"I'm not even all that talented..." Coward3.jpg|"....." EllyThreaten.png|Elly threatens to shoot Fei. Elly_Gun.png|Full vertical pan shot of Elly. Excuse.jpg|Elly meets Fei. Fire.gif|Elly and Fei. EllyMansion.png|Elly outside her luxurious 1st Class Gazel mansion. TheKiss.gif|Elly and Fei kiss. SophiaSpeech.png|Sophia speaking to the Wels through Elly. EllySpeech.png|Elly speaking to the Wels. XenoGraph.png|Elly crucified. MiangMother.jpg|Myyah awakens in Elly. MiangElly.png|Last Myyah. KrelianWoah.jpg|An illusion of Elly. FeiElly.gif|Fei and Elly. Run.gif|Elly and Fei run to the end of the world. EllyFalls.png|Elly trips and falls. Embrace.gif|Fei saves Elly in the dimensional shift. EllyAndFei.png|Elly and Fei. Listen2.png|Elly. EllyFei2.png|Elly in the ending. Portraits Elehayym_Portrait_1.png|Portrait. Elehayym_Portrait_2.png|Portrait. Elehayym_Portrait_3.png|Portrait. Elehayym_Portrait_7.png|Portrait. Elehayym_Portrait_4.png|Portrait. Elehayym_Portrait_5.png|Portrait (Kim Kasim's wife). Elehayym_Portrait_6.png|Portrait (Kim Kasim's wife). Elehayym_Portrait_8.png|Portrait (Last Myyah). Elehayym_Portrait_9.png|Portrait. Category:Xenogears characters Category:Female characters Category:Elements Category:Xenogears Playable Characters Category:Xenogears bosses